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Ronald Moore and Joss Whedon seem to be trading actors lately. First Tahmoh Penikett, who played Helo on "Battlestar Galactica," joined the cast of "Dollhouse" last year. Now James Marsters, best known as Spike on Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," is joining Moore's BSG prequel series, "Caprica." That's not all though. Patton Oswalt is joining the cast as well. Fun, right? More after the jump.

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According to MTV, James Marsters will play Barnabus Greeley, a dangerous terrorist caught between his "conflicting moral and carnal desires." Patton Oswald "Caprica" is set 58 years before "Battlestar Galactica" and deals with the creation of the first Cylons and the relationship between two rival families: the Adamas and the Graystones. Joseph Adama is a prominent lawyer and Daniel Graystone is an inventor trying to design the first Cylon. Patton Oswalt will play a talk show host, who regularly has Graystone on his program.

The direct-to-DVD pilot episode has its highs and lows, but shows a lot of promise. The series deals a lot with artificial intelligence and whether its possible to duplicate a person by simply copying their brain. And if it is possible to duplicate someone's consciousness, are they the same person anymore? So far, "Caprica" is all politics and family drama, which is a marked departure from the military and violent tone of BSG.

"Battlestar Galactica" has been in the news a lot lately. Word on the street is, Bryan Singer may direct a big screen re-launch of the BSG franchise. With "Caprica" launching its first season on Syfy this coming January, are we really ready for another new take on the brand? I like my Galactica as much as anyone, but lets chill out here.